In today's commercial transport industry, it is highly desirable to design aircraft configurations that yield reduced fuel burn per seat-mile, as fuel burn per seat-mile is a metric of fuel efficiency. Efficient aircraft configurations are ever more important as fuel costs continue to increase. Aircraft aerodynamic drag and fuel burn are generally reduced as the aspect ratio of the aircraft wing increases. Similarly, operating larger aircraft which carry more passengers and payload is generally more efficient between two destinations than flying several trips with smaller aircraft. Thus larger aircraft and aircraft with longer wingspans tend to be more efficient. However, taxiway spacing and gate locations for most airports were established without providing adequate spacing for aircraft with longer wingspans that can be produced with today's technology.
Some attempts have been made to improve aircraft wing efficiency without adding wingspan. Winglets extending vertically from the wingtips have improved aircraft fuel efficiency without significantly increasing wingspan. However, the efficiency added by winglets is not as beneficial as that provided by extending the wingspan.
Some military aircraft have folding wings to reduce space needed to store the aircraft. Current wing folding designs contain features that add significant weight and/or drag to the wing of an aircraft.
Thus it is desired to provide an aircraft that can benefit from a long wingspan in flight, while being able to reduce the wingspan when operating at an airport, utilizing a system and method without weight and drag penalties of current folding wing aircraft.